Helloooo!

There's been nothing too exciting to post, so I've had trouble posting. On Friday, my oldest brother, Dave, arrived from Germany with his two kids, Zoe and Lucas, and his wife, so there's a little more to report on now. The two kids talk just like i did as a little girl: with a heavy German accent, and tons of direct translations or randomly inserted German words. It's really sweet, and so much fun to get to talk to kids in German again. I hadn't realized how important that language is to my own sense of childhood--reading kids books in German just feels so much better! Zoe is also very into being treated as an adult and taken seriously, which I remember perfectly from when I was that age, so we've had some really fun conversations.

Oh, before I forget, some tips for summer reading: I read The Painted Veil by Somerset Maugham and The Garden of Eden by Hemingway. The second left me in a daze for a few days; it's confusing, but in a good way. The make-you-think way. Also, I read Breakfast at Tiffany's by Capote, which was great. And a book of short stories about Panama called "Come Together, Fall apart". Just in case anyone's bored!

Other than reading, I've been going to Laguna a lot. I saw dolphins there last week, which was really beautiful. There's always something so magical about seeing them jump out of the water. Ariel and I spent a few hours singing on the beach, trying to figure out guitar chords to old 60s songs. then today, we dragged all four kids (Shawn's two girls and Dave's kids, plus all the so-called adults) to Laguna. It was fun, if slightly overwhelming. Who knew that all Winnicks had strong personalities? Izzy and Maya staunchly affirmed that they had never, Hannah-how-could-you-even-THINk-of it?-put on sunscreen in their lives. The total conviction was pretty funny. Having this many people around has been good in other ways, too: my dad's overzealous organizational urges (which mainly come out as super controling) are now distributed among far more people, so that the overall tolerance level seems to have increased. I was beginning to wonder if I would make it through the summer.

This is the first time in years--maybe a decade--that I'm together with all three of my brothers, so it's been a pretty special time. On Wednesday we're leaving to spend a few days on Catalina Island. We'll stay in some cabins, go snorkeling, my brothers will probably go scuba diving...it should be fun.

Other than that, I'm starting to get really excited for next year. I got into the English teaching course in Lisbon for September--after an intense 45 minute interview and a long application process. So I'll be doing a month of pretty intensive coursework to get my CELTA certificate, while living in Lisboa! From there...I don't know. I'm missing Maicol a lot, even with all the distractions, so perhaps the DR will need to be on the destination list somehow. We'll see.

That's enough for now: big hugs to all!

Cartoneras and other things...

Hello Chapman!!!

I'm back in California. I got in yesterday afternoon, after spending two wonderful weeks back in Santo Domingo. When we pulled into our street, Shawn (one of the big bro's) came running out to keep us from parking in the driveway. My younger bro, Noah, had covered the whole thing in chalk:

Welcome Home, Hannah!

Good Job graduating!

Use a condom!!!

Good luck with the baby!!!!!!!

PS: why didn't you bring Destry???

"You know, just to get the neighborhood gossip started," so Shawn. Well, just to stem the rumors: I'm happy to report that my IUD works just fine. Oh, family.

I had a wonderful time in the DR. The truth is, it didn't feel like any time had passed, even between me and Maicol. His English has gotten so good. We were really able to have conversations in both languages, which was fun. We spent a day at the beach, hung out in the capital before his English classes, or just spent time at his family place in the campo. I also spent a lot of time with his family, curling up in bed with his younger sister and chatting, or going out dancing with all 4 siblings--it was a blast. As usual, I've coming back slightly malnourished after surviving on rice and beans, and beans and rice, and rice mixed with beans, and did I say beans with rice? I love it.

Oh, more exciting news: I participated in two of the Cartonera workshops that Doris Sommer was giving in the capital. I hadn't quite realized how prestigious the event was going to be: not only did it include tons of local artists, writers, musicians, etc., but also various secretaries of education/culture, etc. The event got a lot of press. For those of you I haven't rambled on to about this, the Cartonera/Paper Picker Press (in English) program is an arts-based education initiative that started in Buenos Aires and Lima. It uses creative/artistic approaches to encourage kids to enjoy reading and to approach literature critically. Basically, it uses music, dance, painting, etc. as a way of approaching literature and creating enthusiastic readers. It's an incredible program that grew out of small, grass-roots publishing houses. It's now spread across Latin America and even into Africa (Ghana) and for the past 2 years I've being dying to get one started in the DR.

So, while Doris (who leads up the Paper Picker Press at Harvard) was in Sto Dgo this week, I managed to set up a breakfast date for her and the director of the foundation where I interned last summer. I was a little worried because they are both such strong women, totally used to dominating any situation and controlling the spotlight. But apparently, they both made it clear that neither would bow down to the other within the first two sentences: when Arelis sat down, Doris asked her straight up, "Why didn't you come to my workshops yesterday?" and Arelis pointed her finger at Doris and said, "Doris, darling, don't be a teacher!" From there, they got on brilliantly and it looks like they'll be collaborating to start a Cartonera in the DR!! Which means--who knows??--maybe I'll get to go back to work on that. Wouldn't that be a dream come true? (Apparently, Leonel (the Dominican president) also met with Doris and is enthusiastic about the program. But then, I'm always slightly suspicious of how sincere he is--after all, this is a guy who is talking about starting "e-government" in a country that doesn't even have regular electricity, never mind computer access.)

Other than that, I'm glad to be home. I miss you all and send you abrazos y besotes.